Let It Rain
by Kessie-Louise
Summary: Beck didn't know if he was the only Mighty Number to be able to feel things, but the sensation of the rain was one of his favorites.


Being a week old meant that you had go through a performance check. Today Mighty Number 9, Beck was a week old and -as such- had to go through a performance check.

So far, Beck had completed his cognitive tests, along with several fine motor and gross motor skill tests. What remained now were some of the smaller tests that were made specifically for Beck. Doctor White looked over the list with a still expression.

"Beck," the robotist instructed, "Renounce your armor."

For a moment, the little robot blinked. "I can do that?" he innocently asked. Dr. White looked up at him as if Beck had forgotten something important.

"Why yes." he finally said with a small nod. "You're the only one of the Mighty Numbers to completely do so. Were you not aware of this, Number Nine?"

"I… I guess not..."

"I suppose it is to be expected." Dr. White then said, mostly to himself than Beck. "You are only a week old, and we haven't gone over _all_ your protocols yet… But still, it should be considered muscle memory..."

Interrupting his thoughts, a phone started to ring near them. It rang for a few minutes before automatically being picked up.

"Doctor White, are you there?" the booming voice of Doctor Soichiro Sanda said from over the testing room's intercom system.

"Yes Doctor Sanda." Doctor White agreed. "How can I help you?"

"There's a small issue here." Sanda informed him. "I believe that you can fix it, but I don't know if you were busy or..."

"I'm in the middle of Beck's first week check up. But we can visit for a quick moment."

"Thank you Will. See you soon."

"Likewise Sanda." Doctor White agreed before ending the line. To Beck he said, "We will have to put the tests on hold. But this would be an excellent time to see how your 'average' appearance operates in a real world environment."

Beck gave a nod, not knowing what White was talking about directly, but still had some idea on the matter.

"And get an umbrella Beck." the robotist added as he gathered his things together. "I heard that rain is in the forecast."

. . .

The rain had yet to start, but you could feel it in the sweltering heat. Beck could feel the heat and worse of all he could see how hot his internal temperatures were becoming. This was something to be expected, Doctor White had told him, as it was a feature of having his armor removed; for all intents and purposes, Beck was human at the moment and no one would have thought any less of him.

What Beck did not know was at that very moment, a certain raindrop was taking form- it got so big that it started to fall from the cloud it was created in. The raindrop started its descent down to earth, falling so fast that its speed was almost unmatched by anything Earth could otherwise produce. When that drop of rain hit Beck on the shoulder, and he nearly screamed.

Doctor White noticed far too quickly, and turned to the youngest Mighty Number in curiosity. "Are you alright Number Nine?" Doctor White questioned with a small raise of his eyebrow.

"I-I'm fine… Professor." Beck agreed with a nod. He debated on whether to dare his creator that he had been surprised, but ultimately decided against it. Doctor White stared at his creation a bit longer -as if he expected Beck to say something further- before shrugging it off.

"Then let's hurry." he told him. "Doctor Sanda is waiting for us."

"R… right." Beck agreed as he followed the robotist. But Beck's mind was nowhere near thinking about Doctor Sanda as the rain started to come down harder and in greater multitude.

When Doctor White had offered the umbrella to Beck so the bot wasn't completely drenched, the robotist was surprised when his creation denied the offer. What Doctor White didn't see were the joyful tears falling from Beck's eyes as the raindrops gently pricked Beck's artificial skin like small kisses.

. . .

There was absolutely no reason for any of the Mighty Numbers to use the bathroom. Well, Cyrosphere sometimes would, but she was usually shooed out before Doctor White's shampoo contained hair dye.

No one had seen Beck enter the bathroom.

No one was there to shoo the curious Beck away as he numbly walked to the bathtub and just stared at it. Finding the bathtub's facet, Beck removed his armor and sat at the bathtub's edge. To be honest, he didn't know what to do from here.

Cautiously, Beck turned the facet handle and watched as the water started to flow from the spout. The young bot placed his hand under the rushing water- the force was more than apparent, but it wasn't what he was looking for. Beck then noticed the handle that controlled whether the water filled the bathtub or became the shower he desired and with small movements, he turned it.

The shower head sputtered for a moment as the water was redirected. Beck could only stare as the water showered down in the bathtub as it had once done when he had been outside. Moving unconsciously, the young xel bot placed his hand under the running water and a small smile started to escape his lips.

The shower was just the starting point in Beck's fascination. To be as inconspicuous as possible, Beck looked up songs about rain and noted how most of them were about renewal (if they weren't more… sensuous in nature, but those were the ones he decided to ignore) and so very fitting they all seemed to be. He had even braved a talk with Cryosphere about any movies that had rain in them. Mighty Number 2 didn't think much of it and gave him the name of the only one she knew- it happened to be a musical.

By the time the monthly family meeting came around, Beck was not even remotely aware of how much water he was wasted in that amount of time. He didn't know that his siblings were well aware of the songs he played on repeat most of the time. And for much of the meeting, Beck was only thinking about feeling the rain again. It wasn't until Doctor White was going over the Mighty Numbers' spending expenditure that Beck came back down to earth.

"The water bill is higher this month." Doctor White noted before turning to Cyrosphere.

"What?" she immediately rebutted. "It wasn't me!"

The sound of very skeptical 'hmm-mm's filled the room, leaving Cryosphere to pound her hands into the table.

"It wasn't!" Cryo huffed with the most indignant whine. "Honest!"

Sitting at his end of the table, Pryogen was pretty sure it had been Number 2. Who else of his siblings had an interest in water that they would have run up the bill? Pyrogen looked around the meeting table for his other siblings' reactions. He was almost surprised to see that Beck looked particularly guilty (and was, in fact, sunken so low in his chair that he almost couldn't be seen) but the youngest was not making any mention of his possible involvement. It felt… very odd to Pyrogen and he made note of it for later.

The rest of the family meeting went about as expected. Doctor White had let Cryosphere off the hook this time, but if next month's bill was just as high, then there would be more serious repercussions. Despite her whining, Mighty Number 2 agreed to the charges and left the meeting in an annoyed huff. Beck didn't waste time leaving either- he was gone the moment Doctor White said the Mighty Numbers could leave. Pyrogen stayed behind as he waited for the right time for a certain other Mighty Number got ready to leave.

"Brandish, can I talk to you?"

Mighty Number 7 looked up at Number 1 with a faint raise of his eyebrow- of what could be seen of it, anyway.

"What's wrong Number One?" Brand carefully asked. Pyrogen didn't mean it, but he flinched. Brandish occasionally referred to the Mighty Numbers by the serials like Doctor White did; Pyrogen could never recall himself doing such a thing, using their serials just seemed so… cold. Brand was still young though, so maybe it was still a naive admiration for their creator more than anything.

"I'm worried about Beck." Pyrogen told his younger sibling.

"And you want me to talk to him?"

"He knows something about the water bill being higher than usual. I'm sure you noticed…?"

"Of course I did." Brandish snorted. "All of us did. Maybe except Number Two- she was too mad to notice anything at that point, really."  
"Most of the training that Doctor White is making him go through are the very same tests he gave to you. You're similar. Don't force anything out of Beck just… just talk to him for me, please?"

Brandish gave a small snort of amusement. "Alright." he agreed.

"Thank you." Pyrogen sighed, but Brandish was already out the door in pursuit of Beck.

Brandish had been among the first the realize that Beck was starting to have an obsession with water recently. Rain, in particular. Countershade was the other one who had caught on- the rest just knew that Beck was just getting his first obsession over something. Come to think of it, Doctor White was the _only_ one that didn't seem to notice. The thought seemed odd but it was not a matter to worry about for the time being.

Mighty Number 7 looked for his youngest brother in the most logical place; in his bedroom. However, when Brandish knocked, no one answered. When he stepped inside, Beck's room was completely empty.

"Where is he?" Brand asked himself as he started to curiously look around Beck's room. Not finding anything too out of the ordinary (except for maybe that bead curtain with nothing but blue beads strung on it, how on earth did Beck sneak that in?) Brandish went to plan B; Mighty Number 7 trained his ears to pick up on nothing but Beck's vocal signature. It sounded like Beck was on one of the lower levels, and so Brandish followed the sound.

Imagine his surprise when he found Beck's voice coming from the other side of the bathroom door.

Not bothering to knock this time, Brandish opened the bathroom door with an inquisitive, "What are you doing in here Beck?"

You could say anything you wanted about Mighty Number 9, but his scream was the most shrillest thing Brandish had ever heard in his life.

"Brand!" Beck exclaimed, having fallen out of the shower and now in a tangled mess with the shower curtains. "W-w-what are you doing here?"

"I asked you first." Brandish replied, giving a sound that indicated a smirk. Beck gave a sheepish laugh as he tried to get back on his feet.

"I..." the youngest tried to rebut. "I think I have… I think Doctor White gave me the ability to feel things."

For a moment, all Brandish could do was blink. There was a small twinge of something in Mighty Number 7's core in hearing this- there was no way it was jealousy. Right?

"What makes you think so?" he instead decided to ask. He watched as Beck hesitated for a moment, trying to find where he could start on the revelation.

"It… It started when I had my first week checkup..." Beck started to admit. He then went on the tell Brandish everything else that had started since then. The young bot talked about the rain a LOT in the admittedly short amount of time. When he finished, Beck gave a small pause so the both of them could process what had been said for a moment. Not quite away of it at first, Beck turned back to Brandish and quietly asked;

"Can you feel it?"

"Feel what?"

"The rain."

Brandish was silent for a moment before giving a small, "No, I can not- it must be something that only you can do for now."

"Oh..." Beck mumbled with a bit of sadness. He looked back up at the older Mighty Number to say, "It feels wonderful Brand. Really, really wonderful."

Mighty Number 7 made a sound that indicated a light smile. "I'm sure it does Beck. I'm sure it does."


End file.
